Whoopi Goldberg

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Goldberg started her career as a comedian performing her one woman show Spook Stories off-Broadway. Mike Nichols saw her performing and helped her adapt the show for Broadway with the show titled, Whoopi Goldberg (1984). She gained career stardom after portraying Celie Harris Johnson in the Steven Spielberg directed coming-of-age epic The Color Purple (1985), which was based on the Alice Walker novel of the same name. For her performance Goldberg was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Ghost (1990), becoming the second African-American woman after Hattie MacDaniel for Gone with the Wind to win the award. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her performance in the comedy Sister Act (1992). She reprised the role in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993). On television, she is best known for her recurring role as Guinan in the science-fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988–1993) and Star Trek: Picard (2022). She has hosted the Academy Awards four times in 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2002. She currently co-hosts and moderates the talk show The View (2007–).

Reader's Guide

Goldberg's career is marked by major milestones. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Ghost (1990), becoming the second African-American woman after Hattie MacDaniel for Gone with the Wind to win the award. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Color Purple (1985) and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for that role. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Sister Act (1992). She has hosted the Academy Awards four times: 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2002. She has acted in films such as Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Clara's Heart (1988), Soapdish (1991), Sarafina! (1992), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Rat Race (2001), For Colored Girls (2010), and Till (2022). She has voiced roles in The Lion King (1994), The Pagemaster (1994), and Toy Story 3 (2010). On television, she is best known for her recurring role as Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988–1993) and Star Trek: Picard (2022). She has guest starred on shows such as Moonlighting, A Different World, Sesame Street, Law & Order, 30 Rock, and The Conners.

Did You Know?

• Whoopi Goldberg won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Ghost (1990), becoming the second African-American woman after Hattie MacDaniel for Gone with the Wind to win the award.
• She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Color Purple (1985) and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for that role.
• She has hosted the Academy Awards four times: in 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2002.
• Goldberg started her career as a comedian performing her one woman show Spook Stories off-Broadway, which Mike Nichols helped adapt for Broadway as Whoopi Goldberg (1984).
• She currently co-hosts and moderates the talk show The View, a role she has held since 2007.